Summer teams begin

Well I got back on Wed afternoon 1.5 weeks ago to receive our first summer team Thursday! This group came from Indiana and worked hard moving wheelbarrowful after wheelbarrowful of dirt and rocks as well as laying the foundation for the stairs up to our second story! They sweated a lot and worked hard and I bet they're in weather shock back in Indiana now!

Leaving the States

This was a perfect good bye to the States. I got to watch an amazing sunrise over New York during my 4 hour layover. Beautiful.

Growing baby

We got to see the little baby a few times in the last week while I was in Oregon. We went for a few sonograms and the little one was kicking and moving and dancing around. He (gender neutral "he", we still don't know) was even sucking his little thumb. They checked every little piece of this baby and I can say that he is perfect. Every little finger joint, his heart...it is amazing.

We are going to be watching some measurements and changes in his brain, but what we ask for are your prayers that all will be developed properly. We know our baby is perfect and that God makes no mistakes in forming these little ones, so we trust and pray for all to be positive.

Oregon did the baby bump very good and I am looking more and more pregnant these days. The baby is very active and my mom and Ariel both have felt him moving from the outside. He really likes the mornings when I drink orange juice and the evenings when I stop moving from the day.

I am excited, so excited I can't even put words to it. Pregnancy is incredible. I have never experienced so many emotions in so few months. From sheer joy to absolute terror, and everything in-between. Whenever I feel overwhelmed about becoming a mom, I just remember that in the early weeks of pregnancy (I found out I was prego at 4.5 weeks!!) I dedicated this little one to God and I try to always remember that this is His baby that He lets me have for awhile. What a blessing. It is exciting to go through these steps with Ariel, to see our marriage grow as we each change, and I can't wait for what is ahead.

Newport Marathon

My time in Oregon was happily filled to every last minute! It was incredible all that I was able to do and be a part of. My brother ran the Newport Marathon on my last weekend, so I got to stay the whole weekend at the beach with his family and my parents in a house they'd rented months ago. We got to rest (except for John who ran 26 miles), go to the tide pools, eat a lot, visit the beach, and let my mom go crazy with taking pictures. I loved it all, especially time with my neice and nephew...I just can't get enough of that!

More friends!

This was such a fun trip to Oregon because I got to meet up with so many old friends that I haven't seen in many years. I do have to give most of the thanks to Facebook, who keeps us in touch, but it's so cool that after all these years we still can be getting together. I got to have dinner and Voodoo donuts with two friends from high school, Lauren and Shannon, and it was so nice to just talk about our lives now and catch up. Even through all the years...I don't think we've changed all that much!

Carrascos visit

When I was in high school, we had a student from Nicaragua come and stay with us...and he became part of our family! Alan has been like a brother from the beginning and he lived with us for many months, went back to Nicaragua, then returned to live with us. He has since gotten married and now has a family and they all live in New Mexico. It happened that while I was in Oregon, he took is family for a visit for the weekend! It was awesome to get to spend time with his kids, I hadn't even met the littlest one.